


In the Embers

by looking_for_life_elsewhere



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 11:21:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9654395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/looking_for_life_elsewhere/pseuds/looking_for_life_elsewhere
Summary: A missing scene from Herrenvolk; follows Mulder's return from Canada to the hospital.





	

The moment he shows up in the hospital hallway, Scully can see the lights in his eyes are going out one by one, and that the encroaching darkness in his mind is close to overwhelming him. Mulder is grasping at straws, spinning his wheels, trying desperately to get a grip in a world that is rapidly spinning out of his control. She knows if she does nothing he will be lost, so as his body slouches under the weight of the last twenty-four hours Scully doesn’t hesitate to pull Mulder’s head onto her shoulder. Instinctively she strokes the back of his neck, trying to breathe some life into the dying embers. They say nothing. The only sounds in the room are Mulder’s shaky breathing and the rhythmic beeps and hisses of the hospital machinery. Scully takes deep breaths and tries to will his body and mind to relax. _It’s okay, it’s okay,_ she thinks over and over again, wishing she could say the words out loud without sounding superficial; his mother is dying, it’s not okay. Eventually Mulder’s breathing calms to match her own and when he lifts his head her hands slide from his back to the sides of his arms. She feels the exhaustion rolling off him in waves and for a moment Scully is afraid that if she lets go, he might collapse right there on the floor. The last thing she wants to deal with right now is her six-foot-something partner in an unconscious heap.

“Mulder you need to sit down,” Scully says, guiding him by the shoulders to a vinyl hospital chair that creaks as he slumps into it. Scully pulls up another chair for his feet and spreads the blanket from his shoulders out along his legs. It isn’t long before Mulder’s head lolls to the side and his eyes shut. Scully sits back into the remaining chair and settles in to keep watch over the two generations of Mulders in front of her.

As the minutes tick by, her mind starts to wander and Scully finds herself thinking about how many bumps and bruises Teena Mulder kissed better for a hazel-eyed little boy, or how many pigtails she braided for a brown-haired girl. She tries to imagine the deafening silence that began growing in the Mulder household after one terrible November night. It’s a difficult task. With four children and Irish heritage, the Scully home has never been quiet. She wonders how she ended up becoming so good at bottling her feelings when she grew up in a family that never shied away from making their thoughts and sentiments extraordinarily clear.

After twenty minutes, Scully decides to go in search of the hospital cafeteria. She makes eye contact with Skinner as she leaves the room. He’s sitting on a bench next to the nurse’s station and starts to stand until Scully shoots him the best “not now” look she can manage. At this moment even if she did want to try and explain the current situation to her boss, she wouldn’t have any good answers to give him. When Scully returns to the room some time later with a ham sandwich, an iced tea, and two extra strength acetaminophens, Mulder is starting to stir. He opens his eyes and Scully can’t hold back a small smile—the lights are back. They’re faint and distant, but very much alive.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a missing scene challenge on Tumblr, and it was terrifying for mainly two reasons: 1) I had never written anything for the X Files before and 2) I don't usually share my writing, regardless of topic. Anyways, I really love the show, and I wanted to write something for the challenge and now it's ending up here on AO3 because I decided I wanted to share my writing with a larger audience and this just seemed like a logical step. I know this was short, but I hope you enjoyed it! (Or if you didn't enjoy it, at least it was short).


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